This invention relates to a weather strip for sealingly closing a space having an opening edge associated with a cover member. Although the invention will be described in connection with a weather strip associated with a vehicle trunk lid, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in any way to this application.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a weather strip on which the invention is an improvement is briefly described in order to provide a basis for a better understanding of the difficulties attendant thereon.
The weather strip, generally designated by the numeral 10, is associated with a vehicle trunk lid A for sealingly closing the vehicle trunk room defined by a vehicle body panel B having an opening edge or flange C. The weather strip 10 has a welt portion 12 fitted on the flange C and a hollow sealing portion 14 formed integrally on the welt portion 12 for sealing contact with the trunk lid A. The welt portion 12 is made of a hard rubber and the hollow sealing portion 14 is made of a soft rubber. The hollow sealing portion 14 has a flexible wall defining a central bore therein. The flexible wall has a number of vent holes 16 to permit deformation of the hollow sealing portion 14 with movement of the trunk lid A. The vent holes 16 opens into the trunk room in order to prevent entry of rainwater into the trunk room, as best shown in FIG. 2.
However, such a weather strip structure fails to provide smooth deformation of the hollow sealing member 14 when the trunk lid A closes. This stems mainly from the fact that air cannot be discharged smoothly from the center bore into the closed trunk room. As a result, the trunk lid A cannot be closed smoothly.